USDA selects 18 States to participate in 2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that 18 state departments of agriculture have been selected to participate in the 2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP).  Created by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), this competitive grant program makes approximately $3 million available to help develop solutions to problems affecting the specialty crop industry across state boundaries.
 

Administered by AMS, the SCMP is designed to support food safety and research; address plant pests, disease, and crop-specific issues; and increase marketing opportunities for specialty crops which include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. Participating state departments of agriculture are the only entities that may submit SCMP applications to AMS. The states selected are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. 
 

USDA encourages specialty crop producer associations and groups, other State agencies, Tribal governments, universities, non-profits, and other stakeholder groups and organizations to submit proposals to one of the participating State departments of agriculture.  Proposals must include partners located in at least two different States to qualify. 
 

A deadline for multi-state partners to submit proposals to participating State departments of agriculture will be announced soon and will be posted to the SCMP website.  USDA encourages multi-state partners to select a participating State department of agriculture soon and contact them to receive timely updates on the SCMP application process in the coming weeks.
 

Participating state departments of agriculture will:
 

• screen proposals to ensure they are complete and meet the basic requirements outlined in the 2015 SCMP Request for Applications.

• submit applications to AMS by January 14, 2016. 

• assume administrative responsibility for any application they submit that is selected for funding.

• establish sub-grants and/or contracts with the multi-state partners to complete the project.